Threading apparatus



March 7, 1967 R. R. SOUTHARD, JR 3,307,344

THREADING APPARATUS Filed March 17, 1965 INVENTOR, Ralph E-Soulhard United States Patent 3,307,344 THREADING APPARATUS Ralph R. Sonthard, Jr., 807 Pleasant St., Roehdale, Mass. 01930 Filed Mar. 17, 1965, Ser. No. 440,413 4 Claims. (Cl. 5751.5)

This invention relates to a roving lead and, more particularly to a means of facilitating the initial threading of roving ends through various components of textile machinery, such as twister heads and drawing rolls.

During the spinning operation, roving is taken from i an upper package and threaded through a twister head. Upon its emergence from the twister head, the roving is passed between drawing rolls and thereafter wound on a revolving bobbin by a conventional spinning ring and traveller arrangement. Much difficulty has been encountered in the past when initially threading roving ends through the twister heads due to the fact that at this stage in the process, the roving strands are no more than loosely wound fibers of wool or cotton. As such, the roving bends readily and is 'not susceptible to being threaded through confined passageways. Consequently, excess time is frequently lost when initially placing textile machinery in operation. These and other disabilities have been obviated in a novel manner by the present invention.

It is, therefore, an outstanding object of the present invention to provide a new and novel means for facilitating the initial threading of roving ends through twister heads in a textile machine.

Another object of the present invention is to provide -a roving lead comprised of an elongated resilient member capable of being temporarily attached to a roving end, thereby forming a relatively firm yet bendable extension thereof.

A still further object of the present invention is the provision of a roving lead having means thereon for facilitating its temporary connection to a roving end without undue loss of valuable production time.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a roving lead which is inexpensive to manufacture and which may be constantly re-used over extended periods of time without replacement.

I With these and other objects in view, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of parts set forth in the specification and covered in the claims appended hereto.

The character of the invention, however, may be best understood by reference to certain of its structural forms, as illustrated by the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a partial view in perspective of a conventional textile machine including a twister head and drawing rolls and showing the use of the present invention in threading a strand of roving therethrough,

FIG. 2 is an enlarged View of a roving lead according to the present invention illustrating the method employed in temporarily afiixing a roving end thereto,

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a roving lead according to the present invention temporarily aflixed to a roving end and being thrust downwardly through the upper end of a twister head,

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of an alternate embodiment of the present invention wherein aligned hair-like protrusions are positioned along the outer surface thereof, and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line V-V of FIG. 4.

Referring first to FIG. 1, wherein is best shown the general features of apparatus with which the present invention is utilized, a portion of a conventional spinning frame is illustrated, including a package of roving suspended from an overhead frame portion 12 of the apparatus. The roving supply 14 is unwound from package 10, passes over a guide rail 16 and thence downwardly through a twister head 18 to emerge between a drawing roll arrangement collectively referred to by the reference numeral 20. From this point, the roving continues downwardly through a guide eye 22 in fixed plate 24 to be wound on bobbin 26 by a conventional spinning ring and traveller assembly 28.

The details of the spinning apparatus form no part of the present invention and are being utilized simply as an illustration of the type of machinery with which the roving lead may be utilized. Consequently, the aforementioned components have been considerably simplified wherever possible for purposes of clarity. It is to be understood, however, that in actual operation a series of laterally adjacent components as shown in FIG. 1 are combined in one apparatus for continuous simultaneous operation during the spinning process.

It is apparent from FIG. 1 that the roving must first be passed through a small diameter passageway 30 extending axially through twister head 18. This of itself has always been a serious problem due to the fact that the roving lacks rigidity and, therefore, has a tendency to bend or buckle when being manually inserted through the twister head. Moreover, once having passed through the twister head, the roving must immediately pass between drawing rolls 20a and 2012. Since the vertical distance between the drawing rolls and the twister head is limited, an operator has considerable difiiculty in guiding the roving between the rolls, a factor which, when added to the aforementioned difiiculty of initially passing the roving through the twister head, often results in a wasting of valuable production time.

It has now been discovered that by utilizing a roving guide to form a firm extension of the roving end, the aforementioned difiiculties can be completely obviated. Referring now especially to FIG. 2, one embodiment of the invention is shown in the form of a small diameter elongated tube 32. The tube may be fabricated of any suitable material having pliable resilient characteristics, such as plastic. The length of the tube may also vary according to its intended use. However, with apparatus of the type as disclosed in FIG. '1, the tube should be long enough to extend through twister head 18 and have its lower end emerge between drawing rolls 20a and 20b.

As shown in the upper portion of FIG. 2, one end of tube 32 has been positioned adjacent the end of a roving strand 14 taken directly from package 10. The roving end has been prepared for temporary connection to the tube by having its individual fibers 33 unwound as at 34 to produce a frayed effect. The roving end is then connected to tube 32 as shown in the lower portion of FIG. 2 by simply twisting the individual fibers 32 onto the tube end. This having been accomplished, tube 32 now forms a relatively firm extension of the roving end capable of being more efficiently handled by an operator.

Having thus connected the roving 14 to tube 32, an operator may then grasp the tube and thrust it downwardly through passageway 30 in twister head 18 (see FIG. 3). As previously indicated, the overall length of the tube should be sufficient to reach downwardly between the drawing rolls 20a and 20b when initially being threaded through the twister head. The operator then :grasps the end of tube 32 and pulls it downwardly to draw the roving through the twister head and between the rolls. Thereafter, the roving may be disconnected from the tube, passed through the ring and traveller assembly 28 and connected to bob-bin 26. The spinning operation is now ready to begin.

An alternate embodiment of the invention is partially shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 in the form of a modified roving lead 36. As in the case of tube 32, lead 36 is also provided with resilient bendable characteristics making it adaptable for passage through confined passageways without excessive bending or buckling. However in addition to being solid rather than tubular, lead 36 is further provided along one side with a series of hair-like protrusions 38. These protrusions become entangled with the individual fibers 33 of a roving end as they are twisted thereon in a manner similar to that illustrated in FIG. 2. This, in turn, results in a firmer engagement of the roving to the roving lead, a factor of some importance in certain applications where the roving must be threaded through relatively long twisting passageways.

In View of the above, it should not be apparent to one skilled in the art that the present invention should not be confined to use with apparatus of the type disclosed in the drawings. Rather, it should be understood that roving leads according to the present invention may be utilized wherever roving is to be conducted through tortuous confined passageways.

While preferred embodiments of the invention have been described using specific terms, such description is for illustrative purposes only, and it is to be understood that changes and variations may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. For use in operating a textile machine wherein roving is fed downwardly from an upper package along a path extending through a twister head to emerge between drawing rolls, thereafter to be wound by a spinning ring and traveller arrangement on a revolving bobbin, means for facilitating the initial guidance of a roving end along said path comprising a surfaced elongated flexible guide member, the maximum outer cross-sectional dimension of said guide member being slightly less than the inner diameter of a roving passageway extending centrally through said twister head, one end of said guide member temporarily connected to said roving end in order to form a relatively firm flexible extension thereof, whereby once connected to said roving, the other end of said guide member may be manually inserted into said passageway and thrust downwardly through said twister head to emerge between said drawing rolls, said roving being pulled with said guide member along said path and subsequently disengaged therefrom for connection to said spinning ring and traveller arrangement.

2. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said elongated guide member is comprised of a plastic tube having a relatively thin wall structure, said tube having bendable resilient characteristics enabling it to be forced through confined passageways without buckling.

3. Roving guide means for use in operating textile machinery wherein roving ends are manually conducted along a path extending through a twister head and between drawing rolls, said roving guide means comprising an elongated flexible cylindrical member having a relatively smooth outer surface interrupted by a series of aligned hair-like protrusions, the maximum cross-sectional diameter of said member being slightly less than the inner diameter of a roving passageway extending axially through said twister head, the fibers of said roving end becoming entwined with said hair-like protrusions when Wound around one end of said member, said member when connected to said roving forming a relatively firm extension thereof capable of being thrust downwardly through said passageway to emerge between said drawing rolls, said member thereafter disconnected from said roving end for subsequent re-use.

4. A roving guide member for use in threading roving through confined passageways in a textile machine, said guide member comprised of an elongated small-diameter cylindrical body, said body having a relatively smooth outer wall with an aligned series of integrally fabricated protrusions extending outwardly therefrom, the end of said roving temporarily connected to one end of said guide member by being twisted thereon in order to entangle roving fibers with said protrusions, said guide member thereafter capable of being forced through said passageway as a relatively firm extension of said roving.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 286,731 10/1883 Potter 139-381 546,006 9/1895 Dolber 139-381 803,664 1/1901 Campbell 57-515 X 876,465 6/1906 Belisle 139-381 1,058,917 4/ 1913 Squire 57-23 1,747,183 2/1930 Kunkel 139-381 2,655,297 10/1953 Garibaldi 223-103 2,705,862 4/1955 Steiger et al. 57-142 2,933,798 4/1960 Miller et al 57-142 X FOREIGN PATENTS 8,771 3/1912 Great Britain.

FRANK J. COHEN, Primary Examiner.

D. E. WATKINS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. FOR USE IN OPERATING A TEXTILE MACHINE WHEREIN ROVING IS FED DOWNWARDLY FROM AN UPPER PACKAGE ALONG A PATH EXTENDING THROUGH A TWISTER HEAD TO EMERGE BETWEEN DRAWING ROLLS, THEREAFTER TO BE WOUND BY A SPINNING RING AND TRAVELLER ARRANGEMENT ON A REVOLVING BOBBIN, MEANS FOR FACILITATING THE INITIAL GUIDANCE OF A ROVING END ALONG SAID PATH COMPRISING A SURFACED ELONGATED FLEXIBLE GUIDE MEMBER, THE MAXIMUM OUTER CROSS-SECTIONAL DIMENSION OF SAID GUIDE MEMBER BEING SLIGHTLY LESS THAN THE INNER DIAMETER OF A ROVING PASSAGEWAY EXTENDING CENTRALLY THROUGH SAID TWISTER HEAD, ONE END OF SAID GUIDE MEMBER TEMPORARILY CONNECTED TO SAID ROVING END IN ORDER TO FORM A RELATIVELY FIRM FLEXIBLE EXTENSION THEREOF, WHEREBY ONCE CONNECTED TO SAID ROVING, THE OTHER END OF SAID GUIDE MEMBER MAY BE MANUALLY INSERTED INTO SAID PASSAGEWAY AND THRUST DOWNWARDLY THROUGH SAID TWISTER HEAD TO EMERGE BETWEEN SAID DRAWING ROLLS, SAID ROVING BEING PULLED WITH SAID GUIDE MEMBER ALONG SAID PATH AND SUBSEQUENTLY DISENGAGED THEREFROM FOR CONNECTION TO SAID SPINNING RING AND TRAVELLER ARRANGEMENT. 